I was just kidding. This was the 67 parts car that donated the top to my 67 Toro. Actually, all we needed was the steel roof, which is shared with other E-body GM cars (about the only thing it seems) Riviera and Eldorado. THe floor was too rusted out, the engine destroyed, and some dork had tried to yank the engine out improperly and destroyed the aluminum tranny housing (I still have that for parts). But when we cut this off I though, I wonder what a convertible Toro would look like. Of course there is the 1967 Mannix Toronado convertible by George Barris that I bet you've seen. Actually, kind of ugly in my view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIjocpX9eukThe gray coupe is my 1941 Hudson business coupe. The yellow vehicle is a 1939 Bender Hearse. Rare car that was going to be restored, but the people backed out. Getting a car like that done in black and make it look correct is going to take a lot of time and there for money. Maybe it will come back some day. I did a full research into that car and it is very unique with the ventilation system. Bender Body Co. built these hearses exclusively on Studebaker chassis from 1938-1940. They used both Commander and President chassis. Ambulances, hearses, and combination cars. This particular car was a 1939 version. By late 1939, they had dropped the fancy ventilation system which was more for the ambulance series anyway (why ventilate a hearse with a casket unless you forgot the casket was in the hearse?). Bender Body co produced some other notable vehicles, mainly the original Gear Jammers for Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks beginning in 1936 (built on White Motor truck chassis with grille design by Alexis de Sakhnovsky). yellow buses for Yellowstone, red for Glacier. Even the Pendleton woolen mills, nearby where I live, made special wool blankets for each of the buses (the tops were open for sightseers). I also attached some ventilation pictures on the hearse. Air intakes just above windshield. Air escapes out the vents on top of the cab.
- Yellowstone Gear jammer.jpg (12.18 KiB) Viewed 15532 times
- Bender 1.jpg (82.67 KiB) Viewed 15532 times
- Bender 2.jpg (78.48 KiB) Viewed 15532 times
